Positioning measurement data reported via l1 or l2 signaling

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are techniques for wireless communication. In an aspect, a first communication node (e.g., UE, BS, etc.) obtains one or more measurements associated with one or more PRSs (e.g., uplink PRS(s), downlink PRS(s), etc.) The first communication node transmits, to a second communication node (e.g., UE, BS, etc.) via L1 or L2 signaling, a report based on the one or more measurements. The second communication node receives the report and performs a position computing function based on the report.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present Application for Patent claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/966,516, entitled “POSITIONINGMEASUREMENT DATA REPORTED VIA L1 OR L2 SIGNALING”, filed Jan. 27, 2020,assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems have developed through variousgenerations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service(1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (includinginterim 2.5G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data,Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G) service(e.g., LTE or WiMax). There are presently many different types ofwireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personalcommunications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systemsinclude the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), anddigital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA),frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access(TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDMA,etc.

A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio(NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers ofconnections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5Gstandard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, isdesigned to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second toeach of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens ofworkers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands ofsimultaneous connections should be supported in order to support largewireless sensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5Gmobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to thecurrent 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should beenhanced and latency should be substantially reduced compared to currentstandards.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or moreaspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not beconsidered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects,nor should the following summary be considered to identify key orcritical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineatethe scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, thefollowing summary has the sole purpose to present certain conceptsrelating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosedherein in a simplified form to precede the detailed descriptionpresented below.

In an aspect, a first communication node obtains one or moremeasurements associated with one or more positioning reference signals(PRSs), and transmits, to a second communication node via L1 or L2signaling, a report based on the one or more measurements.

In another aspect, a second communication node receives, from a firstcommunication node via L1 or L2 signaling, a report that is based on oneor more measurements associated with one or more positioning referencesignals (PRSs), and performs a position computing function based on thereport.

In another aspect, a first communication node, comprises a memory, atleast one transceiver, and at least one processor communicativelycoupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least oneprocessor configured to obtain one or more measurements associated withone or more positioning reference signals (PRSs), and transmit, to asecond communication node via L1 or L2 signaling, a report based on theone or more measurements.

In another aspect, a second communication node comprises a memory, atleast one transceiver, and at least one processor communicativelycoupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least oneprocessor configured to receive, from a first communication node via L1or L2 signaling, a report that is based on one or more measurementsassociated with one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs), andperform a position computing function based on the report.

In another aspect, a first communication node, comprises means forobtaining one or more measurements associated with one or morepositioning reference signals (PRSs), and means for transmitting, to asecond communication node via L1 or L2 signaling, a report based on theone or more measurements.

In another aspect, a second communication node, comprises means forreceiving, from a first communication node via L1 or L2 signaling, areport that is based on one or more measurements associated with one ormore positioning reference signals (PRSs), and means for performing aposition computing function based on the report.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructionscomprises at least one instruction instructing a first communicationnode to obtain one or more measurements associated with one or morepositioning reference signals (PRSs), and at least one instructioninstructing the first communication node to transmit, to a secondcommunication node via L1 or L2 signaling, a report based on the one ormore measurements.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructionscomprises at least one instruction instructing a second communicationnode to receive, from a first communication node via L1 or L2 signaling,a report that is based on one or more measurements associated with oneor more positioning reference signals (PRSs), and at least oneinstruction instructing the second communication node perform a positioncomputing function based on the report.

Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosedherein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on theaccompanying drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description ofvarious aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely forillustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system,according to various aspects.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless network structures,according to various aspects.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspectsof components that may be employed in wireless communication nodes andconfigured to support communication as taught herein.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating examples of frame structuresand channels within the frame structures, according to aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary PRS configuration for a cell supportedby a wireless node.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate methods of wireless communication, according toaspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description andrelated drawings directed to various examples provided for illustrationpurposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from thescope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of thedisclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as notto obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “servingas an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described hereinas “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term“aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of thedisclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode ofoperation.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information andsignals described below may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the description below may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending inpart on the particular application, in part on the desired design, inpart on the corresponding technology, etc.

Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions tobe performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will berecognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s)of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that,upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of adevice to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the variousaspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of differentforms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of theclaimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects describedherein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be describedherein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the describedaction.

As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” arenot intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radioaccess technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may beany wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tabletcomputer, laptop computer, tracking device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch,glasses, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.),vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet ofThings (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wirelesscommunications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certaintimes) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network(RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeablyas an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,”a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,”a “user terminal” or UT, a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” orvariations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core networkvia a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected withexternal networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course,other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the Internetare also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks,wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11,etc.) and so on.

A base station may operate according to one of several RATs incommunication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed,and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a networknode, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (alsoreferred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. In addition, in some systems abase station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while inother systems it may provide additional control and/or networkmanagement functions. A communication link through which UEs can sendsignals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., areverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel,etc.). A communication link through which the base station can sendsignals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g.,a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forwardtraffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH)can refer to either an UL/reverse or DL/forward traffic channel.

The term “base station” may refer to a single physicaltransmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that mayor may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station”refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna ofthe base station corresponding to a cell of the base station. Where theterm “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, thephysical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employsbeamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refersto multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be adistributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separatedantennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or aremote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a servingbase station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may bethe serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UEand a neighbor base station whose reference RF signals the UE ismeasuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base stationtransmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references totransmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood asreferring to a particular TRP of the base station.

An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequencythat transports information through the space between a transmitter anda receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RFsignal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receivermay receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RFsignal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals throughmultipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different pathsbetween the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath”RF signal.

According to various aspects, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wirelesscommunications system 100. The wireless communications system 100 (whichmay also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) mayinclude various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular basestations) and/or small cell base stations (low power cellular basestations). In an aspect, the macro cell base station may include eNBswhere the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTEnetwork, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the smallcell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with acore network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or next generationcore (NGC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170to one or more location servers 172. In addition to other functions, thebase stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more oftransferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering,integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions(e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interferencecoordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distributionfor non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection,synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service(MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management(RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The basestations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly(e.g., through the EPC/NGC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wiredor wireless.

The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Eachof the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for arespective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cellsmay be supported by a base station 102 in each coverage area 110. A“cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with abase station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as acarrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), andmay be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier(PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI)) for distinguishing cellsoperating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases,different cells may be configured according to different protocol types(e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT),enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access fordifferent types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific basestation, the term “cell” may refer to either or both the logicalcommunication entity and the base station that supports it, depending onthe context. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to ageographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar asa carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication withinsome portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of thegeographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by alarger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell basestation 102′ may have a coverage area 110′ that substantially overlapswith the coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102.A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations maybe known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may alsoinclude home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restrictedgroup known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs104 may include UL (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions froma UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL) (also referred to asforward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. Thecommunication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, includingspatial multiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. Thecommunication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies.Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL(e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL).

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication withWLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensedfrequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensedfrequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and/or the WLAN AP 150 may performa clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedureprior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel isavailable.

The small cell base station 102′ may operate in a licensed and/or anunlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequencyspectrum, the small cell base station 102′ may employ LTE or NRtechnology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as usedby the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102′, employing LTE/5Gin an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and/orincrease capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum maybe referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred toas LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeterwave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and/ornear mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely highfrequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHFhas a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeterand 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as amillimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with awavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) bandextends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave.Communications using the mmW/near mmW radio frequency band have highpath loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and theUE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and/or receive) over a mmWcommunication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path lossand short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternativeconfigurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit usingmmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciatedthat the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not beconstrued to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in aspecific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a basestation) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in alldirections (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the networknode determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located(relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a strongerdownlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing afaster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receivingdevice(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal whentransmitting, a network node can control the phase and relativeamplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters thatare broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use anarray of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antennaarray”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to pointin different directions, without actually moving the antennas.Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to theindividual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that theradio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase theradiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiationin undesired directions.

Transmit beams may be quasi-collocated, meaning that they appear to thereceiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless ofwhether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselvesare physically collocated. In NR, there are four types ofquasi-collocation (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of agiven type means that certain parameters about a second reference RFsignal on a second beam can be derived from information about a sourcereference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RFsignal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RFsignal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, anddelay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift andDoppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift andaverage delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receiveparameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel.

In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RFsignals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver canincrease the gain setting and/or adjust the phase setting of an array ofantennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase thegain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when areceiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beamgain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along otherdirections, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest comparedto the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams availableto the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength(e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal receivedquality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) ofthe RF signals received from that direction.

Receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means thatparameters for a transmit beam for a second reference signal can bederived from information about a receive beam for a first referencesignal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive areference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block(SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam forsending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal(SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receivebeam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base stationis forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, thedownlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlinkbeam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink referencesignal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or areceive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a basestation is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and ifa UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., basestations 102/180, UEs 104/182) operate is divided into multiplefrequency ranges, FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In amulti-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies isreferred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primaryserving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies arereferred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or“SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrieroperating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104/182and the cell in which the UE 104/182 either performs the initial radioresource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiatesthe RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carriercarries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be acarrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case).A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g.,FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is establishedbetween the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used toprovide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carriermay be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier maycontain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example,those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier,since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typicallyUE-specific. This means that different UEs 104/182 in a cell may havedifferent downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplinkprimary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier ofany UE 104/182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance theload on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell oran SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency/component carrier overwhich some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “servingcell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can beused interchangeably.

For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilizedby the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or“PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations102 and/or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers(“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and/or reception of multiplecarriers enables the UE 104/182 to significantly increase its datatransmission and/or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregatedcarriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to atwo-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attainedby a single 20 MHz carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or moreUEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or morecommunication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D)peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2Plink 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellularconnectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to theWLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-basedInternet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 maybe supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D),WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, and so on.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 thatmay communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communicationlink 120 and/or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCelland one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 maysupport one or more SCells for the UE 164.

According to various aspects, FIG. 2A illustrates an example wirelessnetwork structure 200. For example, an NGC 210 (also referred to as a“5GC”) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions 214 (e.g.,UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection,etc.) and user plane functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, accessto data networks, IP routing, etc.) which operate cooperatively to formthe core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control planeinterface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the NGC 210 and specificallyto the control plane functions 214 and user plane functions 212. In anadditional configuration, an eNB 224 may also be connected to the NGC210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to userplane functions 212. Further, eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the New RAN220 may only have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurationsinclude one or more of both eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either gNB 222 or eNB224 may communicate with UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs depicted in FIG.1). Another optional aspect may include location server 230, which maybe in communication with the NGC 210 to provide location assistance forUEs 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality ofseparate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different softwaremodules on a single server, different software modules spread acrossmultiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond toa single server. The location server 230 can be configured to supportone or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to thelocation server 230 via the core network, NGC 210, and/or via theInternet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may beintegrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may beexternal to the core network.

According to various aspects, FIG. 2B illustrates another examplewireless network structure 250. For example, an NGC 260 (also referredto as a “5GC”) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions,provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF)/user planefunction (UPF) 264, and user plane functions, provided by a sessionmanagement function (SMF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form thecore network (i.e., NGC 260). User plane interface 263 and control planeinterface 265 connect the eNB 224 to the NGC 260 and specifically to SMF262 and AMF/UPF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, a gNB222 may also be connected to the NGC 260 via control plane interface 265to AMF/UPF 264 and user plane interface 263 to SMF 262. Further, eNB 224may directly communicate with gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223,with or without gNB direct connectivity to the NGC 260. In someconfigurations, the New RAN 220 may only have one or more gNBs 222,while other configurations include one or more of both eNBs 224 and gNBs222. Either gNB 222 or eNB 224 may communicate with UEs 204 (e.g., anyof the UEs depicted in FIG. 1). The base stations of the New RAN 220communicate with the AMF-side of the AMF/UPF 264 over the N2 interfaceand the UPF-side of the AMF/UPF 264 over the N3 interface.

The functions of the AMF include registration management, connectionmanagement, reachability management, mobility management, lawfulinterception, transport for session management (SM) messages between theUE 204 and the SMF 262, transparent proxy services for routing SMmessages, access authentication and access authorization, transport forshort message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the shortmessage service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchorfunctionality (SEAF). The AMF also interacts with the authenticationserver function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives theintermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS(universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module(USIM), the AMF retrieves the security material from the AUSF. Thefunctions of the AMF also include security context management (SCM). TheSCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-networkspecific keys. The functionality of the AMF also includes locationservices management for regulatory services, transport for locationservices messages between the UE 204 and the location managementfunction (LMF) 270, as well as between the New RAN 220 and the LMF 270,evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation forinterworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Inaddition, the AMF also supports functionalities for non-3GPP accessnetworks.

Functions of the UPF include acting as an anchor point forintra-/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an externalprotocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to the datanetwork (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packetinspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating,redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user planecollection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handlingfor the user plane (e.g., UL/DL rate enforcement, reflective QoS markingin the DL), UL traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flowmapping), transport level packet marking in the UL and DL, DL packetbuffering and DL data notification triggering, and sending andforwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node.

The functions of the SMF 262 include session management, UE Internetprotocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and controlof user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF toroute traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policyenforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface overwhich the SMF 262 communicates with the AMF-side of the AMF/UPF 264 isreferred to as the N11 interface.

Another optional aspect may include a LMF 270, which may be incommunication with the NGC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers(e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on asingle server, different software modules spread across multiplephysical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a singleserver. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more locationservices for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the corenetwork, NGC 260, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated).

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several sample components (representedby corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (whichmay correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304(which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), anda network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of thenetwork functions described herein, including the location server 230and the LMF 270) to support the file transmission operations as taughtherein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implementedin different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., inan ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated componentsmay also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communicationsystem. For example, other apparatuses in a system may includecomponents similar to those described to provide similar functionality.Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. Forexample, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components thatenable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and/or communicatevia different technologies.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include wireless wide areanetwork (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, respectively, configured tocommunicate via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown),such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and/or the like.The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be connected to one or moreantennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other networknodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs,gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.)over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set oftime/frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWANtransceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmittingand encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications,information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receivingand decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications,information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with thedesignated RAT. Specifically, the transceivers 310 and 350 include oneor more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting andencoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and358, respectively.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in somecases, wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers 320 and 360,respectively. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to oneor more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, for communicating with othernetwork nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.,via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, etc.)over a wireless communication medium of interest. The WLAN transceivers320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encodingsignals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and soon), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and soon), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically,the transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368,respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, forreceiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively.

Transceiver circuitry including a transmitter and a receiver maycomprise an integrated device (e.g., embodied as a transmitter circuitand a receiver circuit of a single communication device) in someimplementations, may comprise a separate transmitter device and aseparate receiver device in some implementations, or may be embodied inother ways in other implementations. In an aspect, a transmitter mayinclude or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316,336, and 376), such as an antenna array, that permits the respectiveapparatus to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein.Similarly, a receiver may include or be coupled to a plurality ofantennas (e.g., antennas 316, 336, and 376), such as an antenna array,that permits the respective apparatus to perform receive beamforming, asdescribed herein. In an aspect, the transmitter and receiver may sharethe same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 336, and 376), suchthat the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a giventime, not both at the same time. A wireless communication device (e.g.,one or both of the transceivers 310 and 320 and/or 350 and 360) of theapparatuses 302 and/or 304 may also comprise a network listen module(NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

The apparatuses 302 and 304 also include, at least in some cases,satellite positioning systems (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. The SPSreceivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and376, respectively, for receiving SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively,such as global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigationsatellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals,Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-ZenithSatellite System (QZSS), etc. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may compriseany suitable hardware and/or software for receiving and processing SPSsignals 338 and 378, respectively. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 requestinformation and operations as appropriate from the other systems, andperforms calculations necessary to determine the apparatus' 302 and 304positions using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include networkinterface(s) 380 and 390 for communicating with other network entities.For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or morenetwork access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or morenetwork entities via a wire-based or wireless backhaul connection. Insome aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 may be implemented astransceivers configured to support wire-based or wireless signalcommunication. This communication may involve, for example, sending andreceiving: messages, parameters, or other types of information.

The apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 also include other components that maybe used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE302 includes processor circuitry implementing a processing system 332for providing functionality relating to, for example, false base station(FBS) detection as disclosed herein and for providing other processingfunctionality. The base station 304 includes a processing system 384 forproviding functionality relating to, for example, FBS detection asdisclosed herein and for providing other processing functionality. Thenetwork entity 306 includes a processing system 394 for providingfunctionality relating to, for example, FBS detection as disclosedherein and for providing other processing functionality. In an aspect,the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, oneor more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs,digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA),or other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry.

The apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 include memory circuitry implementingmemory components 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memorydevice), respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., informationindicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on). Insome cases, the apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 may include PRSmeasurement modules 342 and 388, respectively. The PRS measurementmodules 342 and 388 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupledto the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, whenexecuted, cause the apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 to perform thefunctionality described herein. Alternatively, the PRS measurementmodules 342 and 388 may be memory modules (as shown in FIGS. 3A-C)stored in the memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that,when executed by the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, cause theapparatuses 302, 304, and 306 to perform the functionality describedherein.

The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the processingsystem 332 to provide movement and/or orientation information that isindependent of motion data derived from signals received by the WWANtransceiver 310, the WLAN transceiver 320, and/or the GPS receiver 330.By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g.,a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, ageomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometricpressure altimeter), and/or any other type of movement detection sensor.Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different typesof devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motioninformation. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of amulti-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the abilityto compute positions in 2D and/or 3D coordinate systems.

In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 for providingindications (e.g., audible and/or visual indications) to a user and/orfor receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing devicesuch a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on). Although notshown, the apparatuses 304 and 306 may also include user interfaces.

Referring to the processing system 384 in more detail, in the downlink,IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processingsystem 384. The processing system 384 may implement functionality for anRRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. Theprocessing system 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associatedwith broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block(MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g.,RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connectionmodification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, andmeasurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layerfunctionality associated with header compression/decompression, security(ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification),and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated withthe transfer of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correctionthrough ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC servicedata units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering ofRLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mappingbetween logical channels and transport channels, scheduling informationreporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channelprioritization.

The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1functionality associated with various signal processing functions.Layer-1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include errordetection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching,mapping onto physical channels, modulation/demodulation of physicalchannels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handlesmapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes(e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying(QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation(M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split intoparallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with areference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/or frequency domain, andthen combined together using an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) toproduce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream.The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatialstreams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used todetermine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatialprocessing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signaland/or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Eachspatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respectivespatial stream for transmission.

At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respectiveantenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 332.The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer-1 functionalityassociated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatialstreams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams aredestined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into asingle OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDMsymbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fastFourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises aseparate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. Thesymbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered anddemodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation pointstransmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be basedon channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisionsare then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and controlsignals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on thephysical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to theprocessing system 332, which implements Layer-3 and Layer-2functionality.

In the UL, the processing system 332 provides demultiplexing betweentransport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, headerdecompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets fromthe core network. The processing system 332 is also responsible forerror detection.

Similar to the functionality described in connection with the DLtransmission by the base station 304, the processing system 332 providesRRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB,SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCPlayer functionality associated with header compression/decompression,and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrityverification); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer ofupper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation,segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC dataPDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionalityassociated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels,multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing ofMAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correctionthrough HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a referencesignal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used bythe transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulationschemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streamsgenerated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s)316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respectivespatial stream for transmission.

The UL transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a mannersimilar to that described in connection with the receiver function atthe UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respectiveantenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 384.

In the UL, the processing system 384 provides demultiplexing betweentransport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, headerdecompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from theUE 302. IP packets from the processing system 384 may be provided to thecore network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for errordetection.

For convenience, the apparatuses 302, 304, and/or 306 are shown in FIGS.3A-C as including various components that may be configured according tothe various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however,that the illustrated blocks may have different functionality indifferent designs.

The various components of the apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 maycommunicate with each other over data buses 334, 382, and 392,respectively. The components of FIGS. 3A-C may be implemented in variousways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A-C may beimplemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or moreprocessors and/or one or more ASICs (which may include one or moreprocessors). Here, each circuit may use and/or incorporate at least onememory component for storing information or executable code used by thecircuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of thefunctionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented byprocessor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution ofappropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processorcomponents). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented byblocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memorycomponent(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriatecode and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also,some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 396 may beimplemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriateconfiguration of processor components). For simplicity, variousoperations, acts, and/or functions are described herein as beingperformed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a positioning entity,”etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and/orfunctions may actually be performed by specific components orcombinations of components of the UE, base station, positioning entity,etc., such as the processing systems 332, 384, 394, the transceivers310, 320, 350, and 360, the memory components 340, 386, and 396, the PRSmeasurement modules 342 and 388, etc.

FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of a DL framestructure, according to aspects of the disclosure. FIG. 4B is a diagram430 illustrating an example of channels within the DL frame structure,according to aspects of the disclosure. Other wireless communicationstechnologies may have a different frame structures and/or differentchannels.

LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink andsingle-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink.Unlike LTE, however, NR has an option to use OFDM on the uplink as well.OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K)orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones,bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general,modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in thetime domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may befixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on thesystem bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15kHz and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size may beequal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5,5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth mayalso be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16subbands for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz,respectively.

LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing, symbol length,etc.). In contrast NR may support multiple numerologies, for example,subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz and 204 kHz orgreater may be available. Table 1 provided below lists some variousparameters for different NR numerologies.

TABLE 1 Max. nominal system Sub- BW carrier slots/ Symbol (MHz) spacingSymbols/ sub- slots/ slot duration with 4K (kHz) slot frame frame (ms)(μs) FFT size 15 14 1 10 1 66.7 50 30 14 2 20 0.5 33.3 100 60 14 4 400.25 16.7 100 120 14 8 80 0.125 8.33 400 240 14 16 160 0.0625 4.17 800

In the examples of FIGS. 4A and 4B, a numerology of 15 kHz is used.Thus, in the time domain, a frame (e.g., 10 ms) is divided into 10equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, and each subframe includes onetime slot. In FIGS. 4A and 4B, time is represented horizontally (e.g.,on the X axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequencyis represented vertically (e.g., on the Y axis) with frequencyincreasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each time slotincluding one or more time concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (alsoreferred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. Theresource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs).An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and onesubcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIGS. 4A and4B, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutivesubcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols (for DL,OFDM symbols; for UL, SC-FDMA symbols) in the time domain, for a totalof 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutivesymbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bitscarried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

As illustrated in FIG. 4A, some of the REs carry DL reference (pilot)signals (DL-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The DL-RS may includedemodulation reference signals (DMRS) and channel state informationreference signals (CSI-RS), exemplary locations of which are labeled “R”in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example of various channels within a DL subframeof a frame. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DLcontrol information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements(CCEs), each CCE including nine RE groups (REGs), each REG includingfour consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol. The DCI carries informationabout UL resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) anddescriptions about DL data transmitted to the UE. Multiple (e.g., up to8) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one ofmultiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for ULscheduling, for non-MIMO DL scheduling, for MIMO DL scheduling, and forUL power control.

A primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by a UE to determinesubframe/symbol timing and a physical layer identity. A secondarysynchronization signal (SSS) is used by a UE to determine a physicallayer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on thephysical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity groupnumber, the UE can determine a PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE candetermine the locations of the aforementioned DL-RS. The physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH), which carries an MIB, may be logically groupedwith the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also referred to as an SS/PBCH).The MIB provides a number of RBs in the DL system bandwidth and a systemframe number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carriesuser data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCHsuch as system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

In some cases, the DL RS illustrated in FIG. 4A may be positioningreference signals (PRS). FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary PRSconfiguration 500 for a cell supported by a wireless node (such as abase station 102). FIG. 5 shows how PRS positioning occasions aredetermined by a system frame number (SFN), a cell specific subframeoffset (APRs) 552, and the PRS periodicity (T_(PRS)) 520. Typically, thecell specific PRS subframe configuration is defined by a “PRSConfiguration Index” I_(PRS) included in observed time difference ofarrival (OTDOA) assistance data. The PRS periodicity (T_(PRS)) 520 andthe cell specific subframe offset (ΔPRs) are defined based on the PRSconfiguration index I_(PRS), as illustrated in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 PRS configuration PRS periodicity T_(PRS) PRS subframe offsetIndex I_(PRS) (subframes) Δ_(PRS) (subframes)    0-159  160 I_(PRS) 160-479  320 I_(PRS)-160   480-1119 640 I_(PRS)-480  1120-2399 1280I_(PRS)-1120 2400-2404 5 I_(PRS)-2400 2405-2414 10 I_(PRS)-24052415-2434 20 I_(PRS)-2415 2435-2474 40 I_(PRS)-2435 2475-2554 80I_(PRS)-2475 2555-4095 Reserved

A PRS configuration is defined with reference to the SFN of a cell thattransmits PRS. PRS instances, for the first subframe of the N_(PRS)downlink subframes comprising a first PRS positioning occasion, maysatisfy:

(10×n _(f) +└n _(s)/2┘−Δ_(PRS))mod T _(PRS)=0,

where n_(f) is the SFN with 0≤o_(f)≤1023, n_(s) is the slot numberwithin the radio frame defined by n_(f) with 0≤n_(s)≤19, T_(PRS) is thePRS periodicity 520, and APRs is the cell-specific subframe offset 552.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cell specific subframe offset Δ_(PRS) 552 may bedefined in terms of the number of subframes transmitted starting fromsystem frame number 0 (Slot ‘Number 0’, marked as slot 550) to the startof the first (subsequent) PRS positioning occasion. In the example inFIG. 5, the number of consecutive positioning subframes (N_(PRS)) ineach of the consecutive PRS positioning occasions 518 a, 518 b, and 518c equals 4. That is, each shaded block representing PRS positioningoccasions 518 a, 518 b, and 518 c represents four subframes.

In some aspects, when a UE receives a PRS configuration index I_(PRS) inthe OTDOA assistance data for a particular cell, the UE may determinethe PRS periodicity T_(PRS) 520 and PRS subframe offset Δ_(PRS) usingTable 2. The UE may then determine the radio frame, subframe, and slotwhen a PRS is scheduled in the cell (e.g., using equation (1)). TheOTDOA assistance data may be determined by, for example, the locationserver (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270), and includes assistancedata for a reference cell, and a number of neighbor cells supported byvarious base stations.

Typically, PRS occasions from all cells in a network that use the samefrequency are aligned in time and may have a fixed known time offset(e.g., cell-specific subframe offset 552) relative to other cells in thenetwork that use a different frequency. In SFN-synchronous networks, allwireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102) may be aligned on both frameboundary and system frame number. Therefore, in SFN-synchronousnetworks, all cells supported by the various wireless nodes may use thesame PRS configuration index for any particular frequency of PRStransmission. On the other hand, in SFN-asynchronous networks, thevarious wireless nodes may be aligned on a frame boundary, but notsystem frame number. Thus, in SFN-asynchronous networks the PRSconfiguration index for each cell may be configured separately by thenetwork so that PRS occasions align in time.

A UE may determine the timing of the PRS occasions of the reference andneighbor cells for OTDOA positioning, if the UE can obtain the celltiming (e.g., SFN) of at least one of the cells, e.g., the referencecell or a serving cell. The timing of the other cells may then bederived by the UE based, for example, on the assumption that PRSoccasions from different cells overlap.

3GPP Rel. 16 introduced various NR positioning aspects directed toincrease location accuracy of positioning schemes that involvemeasurement(s) associated with one or more UL or DL PRSs (e.g., higherbandwidth (BW), FR2 beam-sweeping, angle-based measurements such asAngle of Arrival (AoA) and Angle of Departure (AoD) measurements,multi-cell Round-Trip Time (RTT) measurements, etc.). If latencyreduction is a priority, then UE-based positioning techniques (e.g.,DL-only techniques without UL location measurement reporting) aretypically used. However, if latency is less of a concern, thenUE-assisted positioning techniques can be used, whereby UE-measured datais reported to a network entity (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270,etc.). Latency associated UE-assisted positioning techniques can bereduced somewhat by implementing the LMF in the RAN.

Layer-3 (L3) signaling (e.g., RRC or Location Positioning Protocol(LPP)) is typically used to transport reports that compriselocation-based data in association with UE-assisted positioningtechniques. L3 signaling is associated with relatively high latency(e.g., above 100 ms) compared with Layer-1 (L1, or PHY layer) signalingor Layer-2 (L2, or MAC layer) signaling. In some cases, lower latency(e.g., less than 100 ms, less than 10 ms, etc.) between the UE and theRAN for location-based reporting may be desired. In such cases, L3signaling may not be capable of reaching these lower latency levels.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary process 600 of wireless communication,according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, the process 600may be performed by a first communication node. In some implementations,the first communication may correspond to a UE (e.g., in a scenariowhere the UE is measuring DL PRS(s) and reporting to a base station) ora BS (e.g., in a scenario where the BS is measuring UL PRS(s) andreporting to a UE).

At 610, the first communication node obtains one or more measurementsassociated with one or more PRSs (e.g., one or more UL PRSs, one or moreDL PRSs, etc.). As will be discussed below in more detail, the one ormore measurements can be obtained directly (e.g., via direct measurementat the first communication node) or indirectly (e.g., via an externalentity that performs the measurement(s) and then relays measurement datato the first communication node). In an aspect, operation 610 may beperformed by receiver(s) 312, WWAN transceiver 310, processing system332, memory 340, PRS measurement module 342, sensor(s) 344, receiver(s)352, WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory 386, PRSmeasurement module 388, etc.

At 620, the first communication node transmits, to a secondcommunication node via L1 or L2 signaling, a report based on the one ormore measurements. For example, an example of L1 signaling that may beused to transport the report is an L1 Uplink Control Information (UCI)communication or an L1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) communication,and an example of L2 signaling that may be used to transport the reportis an L2 MAC Command Element (CE). In an aspect, operation 620 may beperformed by transmitter(s) 314, WWAN transceiver 310, processing system332, memory 340, PRS measurement module 342, transmitter(s) 354, WWANtransceiver 350, processing system 384, memory 386, PRS measurementmodule 388, etc.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary process 700 of wireless communication,according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, the process 700may be performed by a second communication node. In someimplementations, the second communication may correspond to a UE (e.g.,in a scenario where the BS is measuring UL PRS(s) and reporting to theUE, or in a scenario where the UE is measuring DL PRS(s) and reportingto a sidelink (SL) UE that is performing a position computing functionon behalf of the UE) or a BS (e.g., in a scenario where the UE ismeasuring DL PRS(s) and reporting to the BS).

At 710, the second communication node receives, from a firstcommunication node via L1 or L2 signaling, a report that is based on oneor more measurements associated with one or more PRSs. For example,operation 710 may correspond to receipt of the report transmitted atoperation 620 as described above with respect to FIG. 6. In an aspect,operation 710 may be performed by receiver(s) 312, WWAN transceiver 310,processing system 332, memory 340, PRS measurement module 342,receiver(s) 352, WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory386, PRS measurement module 388, etc.

At 720, the second communication node performs a position computingfunction (e.g., LMF) based on the report. In an aspect, operation 720may be performed by processing system 332, memory 340, processing system384, memory 386, etc.

As noted above, L1 and L2 signaling is not currently used in associationwith PRS-based reporting. However, L1 and L2 signaling is currently usedin some systems to transport CSI reports (e.g., reporting of ChannelQuality Indications (CQIs), Precoding Matrix Indicators (PMIs), LayerIndicators (Lis), L1-RSRP, etc.). CSI reports may comprise a set offields in a pre-defined order (e.g., defined by the relevant standard).A single UL transmission (e.g., on PUSCH or PUCCH) may include multiplereports, referred to herein as ‘sub-reports’, which are arrangedaccording to a pre-defined priority (e.g., defined by the relevantstandard). In some designs, the pre-defined order may be based on anassociated sub-report periodicity (e.g.,aperiodic/semi-persistent/periodic (A/SP/P) over PUSCH/PUCCH),measurement type (e.g., L1-RSRP or not), serving cell index (e.g., incarrier aggregation (CA) case), and reportconfigID. With 2-part CSIreporting, the part 1s of all reports are grouped together, and the part2s are grouped separately, and each group is separately encoded (e.g.,part 1 payload size is fixed based on configuration parameters, whilepart 2 size is variable and depends on configuration parameters and alsoon associated part 1 content). A number of coded bits/symbols to beoutput after encoding and rate-matching is computed based on a number ofinput bits and beta factors, per the relevant standard. Linkages (e.g.,time offsets) are defined between instances of RSs being measured andcorresponding reporting.

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 may leverage thelinkages (or time offsets) that are used for CSI reporting so as toconvey a time difference being the report transmission and an associatedPRS without requiring a time-stamp to be embedded in the report. To putanother way, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 is transmitted in relationto one or more timings associated with the one or more PRSs based on atleast one measurement type associated with the one or more measurements.

In one example, assume that the at least one measurement type isassociated with a downlink-based positioning technique. In this case,the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 may be transmitted in relation to adownlink PRS. The relation may further depend on the periodicity of thedownlink PRS, for example, whether it is aperiodic, semi-persistent, orperiodic, and in the latter two cases, on the specific period ofoccurrence of the PRS resource. Note that positioning generally requiresmeasurements based on multiple PRS transmissions from/to multiple cellsor TRPs, so the timing relation may depend on multiple such PRS (forexample, based on the latest in time of all the PRS on which the reportis based). In some designs, the at least one measurement type comprisesone or more of a difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement, a ReferenceSignal Receive Power (RSRP) measurement, an Angle of Arrival (AoA)measurement, an Angle of Departure (AoD) measurement, a motion statemeasurement, a trajectory measurement, a report quality indication, orany combination thereof.

In another example, assume that the at least one measurement type isassociated with a combination of downlink-based and uplink-basedpositioning techniques. In this case, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710may be transmitted in relation to timings of a downlink PRS and anuplink PRS. For example, the report timing may be related to the timingof the later of the two PRSs (downlink and uplink). In another example,the report timing may be at a specified or configured delay after adownlink PRS in case of downlink-based positioning, and at the later oftwo delays in the case of downlink and uplink based positioning, thefirst being a configured or specified delay after a downlink PRS, andthe second being a second configured or specified delay after a uplinkPRS. In these examples, the delay could be specified in terms ofabsolute time units (such as milliseconds) or in terms of OFDM symbols,slots, subframes, frames, etc. A rule could be specified to determinethe numerology (i.e., subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefixduration) based on which these units (such as slots) are counted, forexample, using the numerology of the DL PRS or the UL PRS or the maximumor minimum of the SCS of the DL PRS and UL PRS. In some designs, the atleast one measurement type may comprise a Round-Trip Time (RTT)measurement, and the report may comprise a receive-transmit (Rx-Tx)value associated with the RTT measurement.

In some designs, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 may comprise at leastsome CSI-related report data in addition to the PRS-related measurementdata. In such an implementation, timing rules may be defined (e.g.,based on reporting periodicity requirements, etc.), and not all reportsneed be such ‘hybrid’ (i.e., CSI plus PRS) reports. Thus, separatetiming rules may be specified for the hybrid reports as compared to thereports that are not hybrid. For example, the hybrid reports timing maybe related to the timing of both the PRS and the CSI-related RS (such asCSI-RS or SSBs).

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710may be generated as a concatenation of measurement information frommultiple sub-reports in accordance with at least one sub-reportconcatenation rule. In an example, the at least one sub-reportconcatenation rule comprises one or more of:

-   -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports on a per-cell (or per-TRP) basis (e.g., RSRP        measurement information),    -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports that is common across multiple cells associated with        the same transmission reception point (TRP) (e.g., a single TOA        measurement using ‘PRS stitching’ across cells aggregated by        carrier aggregation, wherein PRSs from each component carrier        are effectively combined to form a single PRS spanning a larger        bandwidth),    -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports associated with multiple PRSs (e.g., from the same        cell or TRP, from different cells or TRPs, etc.),    -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports associated with disparate measurement types (e.g.,        TDOA, AoA, etc.),    -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports that is associated with different TRPs,    -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports that is associated with different report        transmission triggers (e.g., different periodicities, such as an        aperiodic (A) sub-report, a semi-persistent (SP) report, a        periodic (P) report, etc.),    -   concatenating UE-local measurement information (e.g.,        motion-state, trajectory, mobility information, etc.),    -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports in accordance with a concatenation order based on        one or more criteria (e.g., higher-priority measurement        information arranged earlier in the report relative to        lower-priority measurement information, where the priority is        determined based on one or more of the attributes of the        sub-reports as described herein (such as measurement types,        whether the measurements are based on a single cell or multiple        cells, etc.)),    -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports based on measurement type such that only measurement        information from one measurement type is concatenated into the        report (e.g., RSRP only, AoA only, etc.),    -   concatenating measurement information from the multiple        sub-reports based on measurement type groupings such that only        measurement information from one measurement type group is        concatenated into the report (e.g., RSRP and AoA only, any        measurement type except RSRP, etc.), or    -   any combination thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710the multiple sub-reports that contribute measurement information that isconcatenated into the report may comprise measurement informationassociated with a single cell, measurement information associated withmultiple cells, measurement information associated with at least onesidelink, or any combination thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710may comprise measurement information associated with two or moremeasurement types (e.g., RSRP and AoA, etc.). In some designs, some partof measurement information from the one or more measurements is omittedfrom the report in association with at least one cell (e.g., measurementinformation that is redundant with other measurement data in the reportand/or measurement information that is associated with a low confidencelevel or low accuracy, etc.).

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710may have a fixed size. In other designs, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710may have a variable size dependent on (e.g., that scales with) an amountof measurement information concatenated into the report. In somedesigns, particular different sets of sub-report types may beconcatenated separately from each other, such that each set ofsub-report types is encoded differently (e.g., similar to CSI parts 1and 2 as noted above). For example, a first sub-report typeconcatenation group may comprise TDOA sub-reports, and a secondsub-report type concatenation group may comprise RSRP sub-reports. In anexample, the particular groupings of sub-report types that areconcatenated together for common encoding can be based on one or more ofthe sub-report concatenation rules noted above. In an example, a firstsub-report type concatenation group may have a preconfigured size (e.g.,similar to CSI part 1), while a second sub-report type concatenationgroup may have a variable or dynamic size (e.g., similar to CSI part 2).

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, the encoding and concatenationof the L1/L2 report may be performed in any order. In an example, theencoding could be either after all the concatenation. In an L1-specificexample, the sub-reports can be grouped and then concatenated, sent toseparate encoder, and the encoded outputs can then be multiplexed ontothe L1 channel.

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710may be transmitted in association with a report format indication thatindicates a first set of measurement fields that are populated in thereport, a second set of measurement fields that are not populated in thereport (e.g., these field(s) may either be blanked or omitted from thereport altogether), or a combination thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710may comprise a standalone measurement value for at least one particularmeasurement. As used herein, a standalone measurement value is anabsolute or independent value that is not relevant to anothermeasurement value. In some designs, for at least one particularmeasurement, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 may comprise a differentialmeasurement value that is relative to a standalone measurement valueincluded in the report or included in a different report. For example, aparticular measurement type may be made with respect to multiple cells.In this case, as an example, one standalone measurement value for one ofthe multiple cells may be paired with differential measurement value(s)of one or more other cell(s) among the multiple cells in the samereport. In another example, a particular measurement type (e.g.,trajectory) may be tracked over time. In this case, as an example, adifferential measurement value may be relative to a standalonemeasurement value (e.g., directly relative, or indirectly relative viaone or more ‘intervening’ differential measurement values) taken earlierin time. Even though the standalone measurement value is earlier in timerelative to the differential measurement value, the earlier standalonemeasurement value may part of either an earlier report or even the sameL1/L2 report at 620 and 710.

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, in context with a differentialreporting scheme, the standalone measurement value to which one or moredifferential measurement values are associated may correspond to amaximum value or a minimum value (e.g., an earliest delay, a strongestpath, etc.). Moreover, when multiple measurement values are reported forthe same measurement type, the multiple measurement values may be sortedin the report in accordance with defined sort order in some designs. Forexample, if multiple differential measurement values are sorted togetherin the report, then the multiple differential measurement values mayimplicitly be associated with the same reference standalone measurementvalue. Alternatively, a standalone measurement value may be implicitlyindicated by a structure of the report. Alternatively, a standalonemeasurement value associated with differential measurement value(s) maybe expressly indicated in the report.

While some examples of the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 are provided withreference to L1-specific aspects, the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 mayalso be implemented via L2 signaling (e.g., MAC-CE). In L2 (MAC-CE),there is no separate encoding analogous to the L1 case (e.g., CSI parts1-2). However, there is still code block (CB)/code block group (CBG)partitioning, which may be viewed as a form of separate encoding (e.g.,the partitioning is decoupled from the information content of anassociated packet). In this case, indications that specify which CBGscarry which specific MAC-CEs may be leveraged to transport the L1/L2report at 620 and 710.

While some examples of the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 are providedwhere the first communication node corresponds to a UE and the secondcommunication node corresponds to a BS, in other designs, thecommunication node may correspond to a BS and the second communicationnode may correspond to a UE. For example, a UE-based positioning schemecould be augmented whereby the BS (or RAN) conveys measurementinformation to the UE via the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 (e.g., eNBreports Rx-Tx to UE, to allow UE to compute RTT-based position). Suchreports may also include measurement information associated withmultiple cells and/or sidelink UEs (e.g., serving cell collectsmeasurements and/or calculated positions from these external devices,and then relays this information to the UE via the L1/L2 report at 620and 710). In some designs, new DCI formats may be defined to transportthe L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 so that this report may be monitored viaan existing RNTI or a new positioning-specific RNTI (e.g., which can bedefined in standard). In a scenario where the BS is the firstcommunication node, the ‘separate encoding’ aspects (e.g., differentconcatenation sub-report groups being encoded differently) need notapply, or may apply in a modified form (e.g., for MAC-CE, CBGs may beused for DL MAC-CEs similar to UL MAC-CEs as noted above, and for DCI, amulti-stage DCI approach could be used).

Referring to FIG. 6, in some designs, the second communication node maycorrespond to an SL UE that is acting as a relay to a base station.

Referring to FIGS. 6-7, in some designs, the first communication nodemay be a UE attempting to determine its location and the secondcommunication node may correspond to an SL UE that is performing aposition computing function on behalf of the UE (e.g., such that a BS orWWAN need not be part of the position fix). In this scenario, in anexample, a MAC-CE or DL L1 Sidelink Control Information (SCI) (insteadof DCI) may be used for the L1/L2 report at 620 and 710 (rather than theUL L1 approach described above). For example, such an approach couldhelp to avoid a new decoder implementation for UCI-over-PUSCH/PUCCH′transmission types at the SL UE. A similar approach was also followedfor CSI reporting in SL for 3GPP Rel. 16 V2X (using MAC-CE).

Process 600 of FIG. 6 may include additional implementations, such asany single implementation or any combination of implementationsdescribed below and/or in connection with one or more other processesdescribed elsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, the transmitting transmits the report inrelation to one or more timings associated with the one or more PRSsbased on at least one measurement type associated with the one or moremeasurements.

In a second implementation, alone or in combination with the firstimplementation, the at least one measurement type is associated with adownlink-based positioning technique, and wherein the transmittingtransmits the report in relation to a downlink PRS.

In a third implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first and second implementations, the at least one measurement typecomprises one or more of a difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement, aReference Signal Receive Power (RSRP) measurement, an Angle of Arrival(AoA) measurement, an Angle of Departure (AoD) measurement, a motionstate measurement, a trajectory measurement, a report qualityindication, or any combination thereof.

In a fourth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through third implementations, the at least one measurementtype is associated with a combination of downlink-based and uplink-basedpositioning techniques, and wherein the transmitting transmits thereport in relation to timings of a downlink PRS and an uplink PRS.

In a fifth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through fourth implementations, the at least one measurementtype is a Round-Trip Time (RTT) measurement, and wherein the reportcomprises a receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) value associated with the RTTmeasurement.

In a sixth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through fifth implementations, the report comprises one ormore of a difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement, a Reference SignalReceive Power (RSRP) measurement, an Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurement,an Angle of Departure (AoD) measurement, a motion state measurement, atrajectory measurement, a report quality indication, a receive-transmit(Rx-Tx) value, or any combination thereof.

In a seventh implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through sixth implementations, process 600 includes generatingthe report by concatenating measurement information from multiplesub-reports in accordance with at least one sub-report concatenationrule.

In an eighth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through seventh implementations, the at least one sub-reportconcatenation rule comprises one or more of concatenating measurementinformation from the multiple sub-reports on a per-cell basis,concatenating measurement information from the multiple sub-reports thatis common across multiple cells associated with the same transmissionreception point (TRP), concatenating measurement information from themultiple sub-reports associated with multiple PRSs, concatenatingmeasurement information from the multiple sub-reports associated withdisparate measurement types, concatenating measurement information fromthe multiple sub-reports that is associated with different TRPs,concatenating measurement information from the multiple sub-reports thatis associated with different report transmission triggers, concatenatingUE-local measurement information, concatenating measurement informationfrom the multiple sub-reports in accordance with a concatenation orderbased on one or more criteria, concatenating measurement informationfrom the multiple sub-reports based on measurement type such that onlymeasurement information from one measurement type is concatenated intothe report, concatenating measurement information from the multiplesub-reports based on measurement type groupings such that onlymeasurement information from one measurement type group is concatenatedinto the report, or any combination thereof.

In a ninth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through eighth implementations, the multiple sub-reportscomprise measurement information associated with a single cell, orwherein the multiple sub-reports comprise measurement informationassociated with multiple cells, or wherein the multiple sub-reportscomprise measurement information associated with at least one sidelink,or any combination thereof.

In a tenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through ninth implementations, the report comprisesmeasurement information associated with a single cell, or wherein thereport comprises measurement information associated with multiple cells,or wherein the report comprises measurement information associated withat least one sidelink, or any combination thereof.

In an eleventh implementation, alone or in combination with one or moreof the first through tenth implementations, the report comprisesmeasurement information associated with two or more measurement types.

In a twelfth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through eleventh implementations, some part of measurementinformation from the one or more measurements is omitted from the reportin association with at least one cell.

In a thirteenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or moreof the first through twelfth implementations, the report is associatedwith a fixed size, or wherein the report is associated with a variablesize dependent on an amount of measurement information concatenated intothe report.

In a fourteenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or moreof the first through thirteenth implementations, the transmittingtransmits the report in association with a report format indication thatindicates a first set of measurement fields that are populated in thereport, a second set of measurement fields that are not populated in thereport, or a combination thereof.

In a fifteenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or moreof the first through fourteenth implementations, the transmittingtransmits the report via an L1 uplink control information (UCI)communication or an L1 downlink control information (DCI) communication,or wherein the transmitting transmits the report via an L2 Medium AccessControl-Command Element (MAC-CE) communication.

In a sixteenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or moreof the first through fifteenth implementations, the obtaining obtains atleast one of the one or more measurements via direct measurement at theUE, or wherein the obtaining obtains at least one of the one or moremeasurements based upon receipt of a report from at least one externalentity that performed the respective measurement.

In a seventeenth implementation, alone or in combination with one ormore of the first through sixteenth implementations, the firstcommunication node corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or firstcommunication node corresponds to a base station.

In an eighteenth implementation, alone or in combination with one ormore of the first through sixteenth implementations, the secondcommunication node corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein thesecond communication node corresponds to a base station.

In a nineteenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or moreof the first through eighteenth implementations, for a particularmeasurement among the one or more measurements, the report comprises astandalone measurement value.

In a nineteenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or moreof the first through eighteenth implementations, for the reportcomprises a differential measurement value that is relative to astandalone measurement value included in the report or included in adifferent report.

Although FIG. 6 shows example blocks of process 600, in someimplementations, process 600 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 6. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 600 may be performed in parallel.

Process 700 of FIG. 7 may include additional implementations, such asany single implementation or any combination of implementationsdescribed below and/or in connection with one or more other processesdescribed elsewhere herein.

In a first implementation, the receiving receives the report in relationto one or more timings associated with the one or more PRSs based on atleast one measurement type associated with the one or more measurements.

In a second implementation, alone or in combination with the firstimplementation, the report comprises one or more of a difference ofarrival (TDOA) measurement, a Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP)measurement, an Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurement, an Angle ofDeparture (AoD) measurement, a motion state measurement, a trajectorymeasurement, a report quality indication, a receive-transmit (Rx-Tx)value, or any combination thereof.

In a third implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first and second implementations, the report comprises measurementinformation that is concatenated from multiple sub-reports in accordancewith at least one sub-report concatenation rule.

In a fourth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through third implementations, the report comprisesmeasurement information associated with two or more measurement types.

In a fifth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through fourth implementations, the report is associated witha fixed size, or wherein the report is associated with a variable sizedependent on an amount of measurement information concatenated into thereport.

In a sixth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through fifth implementations, the receiving receives thereport in association with a report format indication that indicates afirst set of measurement fields that are populated in the report, asecond set of measurement fields that are not populated in the report,or a combination thereof.

In a seventh implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through sixth implementations, the receiving receives thereport via an L1 uplink control information (UCI) communication or an L1downlink control information (DCI) communication, or wherein thereceiving receives the report via an L2 Medium Access Control-CommandElement (MAC-CE) communication.

In an eighth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through seventh implementations, the first communication nodecorresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein the first communicationnode corresponds to a base station.

In a ninth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through seventh implementations, the second communication nodecorresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein the secondcommunication node corresponds to a base station.

In a tenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more ofthe first through ninth implementations, for a particular measurementamong the one or more measurements, the report comprises a standalonemeasurement value.

In a eleventh implementation, alone or in combination with one or moreof the first through ninth implementations, for a particular measurementamong the one or more measurements, the report comprises a differentialmeasurement value that is relative to a standalone measurement valueincluded in the report or included in a different report.

Although FIG. 7 shows example blocks of process 700, in someimplementations, process 700 may include additional blocks, fewerblocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than thosedepicted in FIG. 7. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of theblocks of process 700 may be performed in parallel.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, orother programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor maybe a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flashmemory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor suchthat the processor can read information from, and write information to,the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium mayreside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Inthe alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside asdiscrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code inthe form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed bya computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of thedisclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosureas defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actionsof the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosuredescribed herein need not be performed in any particular order.Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation tothe singular is explicitly stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a first communication node,comprising: obtaining one or more measurements associated with one ormore positioning reference signals (PRSs); and transmitting, to a secondcommunication node via L1 or L2 signaling, a report based on the one ormore measurements.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmittingtransmits the report in relation to one or more timings associated withthe one or more PRSs based on at least one measurement type associatedwith the one or more measurements.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein theat least one measurement type is associated with a downlink-basedpositioning technique, and wherein the transmitting comprisestransmitting the report in relation to a downlink PRS.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the at least one measurement type comprises one or moreof: a difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement, a Reference SignalReceive Power (RSRP) measurement, an Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurement,an Angle of Departure (AoD) measurement, a motion state measurement, atrajectory measurement, a report quality indication, or any combinationthereof.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one measurementtype is associated with a combination of downlink-based and uplink-basedpositioning techniques, and wherein the transmitting comprisestransmitting the report in relation to timings of a downlink PRS and anuplink PRS.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least onemeasurement type is a Round-Trip Time (RTT) measurement, and wherein thereport comprises a receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) value associated with theRTT measurement.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the report comprisesone or more of: a difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement, a ReferenceSignal Receive Power (RSRP) measurement, an Angle of Arrival (AoA)measurement, an Angle of Departure (AoD) measurement, a motion statemeasurement, a trajectory measurement, a report quality indication, areceive-transmit (Rx-Tx) value, or any combination thereof.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: generating the report byconcatenating measurement information from multiple sub-reports inaccordance with at least one sub-report concatenation rule.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the at least one sub-report concatenationrule comprises one or more of: concatenating measurement informationfrom the multiple sub-reports on a per-cell basis, concatenatingmeasurement information from the multiple sub-reports that is commonacross multiple cells associated with the same transmission receptionpoint (TRP), concatenating measurement information from the multiplesub-reports associated with multiple PRSs, concatenating measurementinformation from the multiple sub-reports associated with disparatemeasurement types, concatenating measurement information from themultiple sub-reports that is associated with different TRPs,concatenating measurement information from the multiple sub-reports thatis associated with different report transmission triggers, concatenatingUE-local measurement information, concatenating measurement informationfrom the multiple sub-reports in accordance with a concatenation orderbased on one or more criteria, concatenating measurement informationfrom the multiple sub-reports based on measurement type such that onlymeasurement information from one measurement type is concatenated intothe report, concatenating measurement information from the multiplesub-reports based on measurement type groupings such that onlymeasurement information from one measurement type group is concatenatedinto the report, or any combination thereof.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the multiple sub-reports comprise measurement informationassociated with a single cell, or wherein the multiple sub-reportscomprise measurement information associated with multiple cells, orwherein the multiple sub-reports comprise measurement informationassociated with at least one sidelink, or any combination thereof. 11.The method of claim 1, wherein the report comprises measurementinformation associated with a single cell, or wherein the reportcomprises measurement information associated with multiple cells, orwherein the report comprises measurement information associated with atleast one sidelink, or any combination thereof.
 12. The method of claim1, wherein the report comprises measurement information associated withtwo or more measurement types.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein somepart of measurement information from the one or more measurements isomitted from the report in association with at least one cell.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the report is associated with a fixed size,or wherein the report is associated with a variable size dependent on anamount of measurement information concatenated into the report.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting thereport in association with a report format indication that indicates afirst set of measurement fields that are populated in the report, asecond set of measurement fields that are not populated in the report,or a combination thereof.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein, for aparticular measurement among the one or more measurements, the reportcomprises a standalone measurement value.
 17. The method of claim 1,wherein, for a particular measurement among the one or moremeasurements, the report comprises a differential measurement value thatis relative to a standalone measurement value included in the report orincluded in a different report.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein thetransmitting comprises transmitting the report via an L1 uplink controlinformation (UCI) communication or an L1 downlink control information(DCI) communication, or wherein the transmitting comprises transmittingthe report via an L2 Medium Access Control-Command Element (MAC-CE)communication.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtainingcomprises obtaining at least one of the one or more measurements viadirect measurement at the UE, or wherein the obtaining comprisesobtaining at least one of the one or more measurements based uponreceipt of a report from at least one external entity that performed therespective measurement.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstcommunication node corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or firstcommunication node corresponds to a base station.
 21. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the second communication node corresponds to a userequipment (UE), or wherein the second communication node corresponds toa base station.
 22. A method of operating a second communication node,comprising: receiving, from a first communication node via L1 or L2signaling, a report that is based on one or more measurements associatedwith one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs); and performing aposition computing function based on the report.
 23. The method of claim22, wherein the receiving receives the report in relation to one or moretimings associated with the one or more PRSs based on at least onemeasurement type associated with the one or more measurements.
 24. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the report comprises one or more of: adifference of arrival (TDOA) measurement, a Reference Signal ReceivePower (RSRP) measurement, an Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurement, anAngle of Departure (AoD) measurement, a motion state measurement, atrajectory measurement, a report quality indication, a receive-transmit(Rx-Tx) value, or any combination thereof.
 25. The method of claim 22,wherein the report comprises measurement information that isconcatenated from multiple sub-reports in accordance with at least onesub-report concatenation rule.
 26. The method of claim 22, wherein thereport comprises measurement information associated with two or moremeasurement types.
 27. The method of claim 22, wherein the report isassociated with a fixed size, or wherein the report is associated with avariable size dependent on an amount of measurement informationconcatenated into the report.
 28. The method of claim 22, wherein thereceiving comprises receiving the report in association with a reportformat indication that indicates a first set of measurement fields thatare populated in the report, a second set of measurement fields that arenot populated in the report, or a combination thereof.
 29. The method ofclaim 22, wherein, for a particular measurement among the one or moremeasurements, the report comprises a standalone measurement value. 30.The method of claim 22, wherein, for a particular measurement among theone or more measurements, the report comprises a differentialmeasurement value that is relative to a standalone measurement valueincluded in the report or included in a different report.
 31. The methodof claim 22, wherein the receiving comprises receiving the report via anL1 uplink control information (UCI) communication or an L1 downlinkcontrol information (DCI) communication, or wherein the receivingcomprises receiving the report via an L2 Medium Access Control-CommandElement (MAC-CE) communication.
 32. The method of claim 22, wherein thefirst communication node corresponds to a user equipment (UE), orwherein the first communication node corresponds to a base station. 33.The method of claim 22, wherein the second communication nodecorresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein the secondcommunication node corresponds to a base station.
 34. A firstcommunication node, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; andat least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the atleast one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: obtainone or more measurements associated with one or more positioningreference signals (PRSs); and transmit, to a second communication nodevia L1 or L2 signaling, a report based on the one or more measurements.35. The first communication node of claim 34, wherein the firstcommunication node corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein thefirst communication node corresponds to a base station.
 36. The firstcommunication node of claim 34, wherein the second communication nodecorresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein the secondcommunication node corresponds to a base station.
 37. A secondcommunication node, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; andat least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the atleast one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:receive, from a first communication node via L1 or L2 signaling, areport that is based on one or more measurements associated with one ormore positioning reference signals (PRSs); and perform a positioncomputing function based on the report.
 38. The second communicationnode of claim 37, wherein the first communication node corresponds to auser equipment (UE), or first communication node corresponds to a basestation.
 39. The second communication node of claim 37, wherein thesecond communication node corresponds to a user equipment (UE), orwherein the second communication node corresponds to a base station. 40.A first communication node, comprising: means for obtaining one or moremeasurements associated with one or more positioning reference signals(PRSs); and means for transmitting, to a second communication node viaL1 or L2 signaling, a report based on the one or more measurements. 41.The first communication node of claim 40, wherein the firstcommunication node corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or firstcommunication node corresponds to a base station.
 42. The firstcommunication node of claim 40, wherein the second communication nodecorresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein the secondcommunication node corresponds to a base station.
 43. A secondcommunication node, comprising: means for receiving, from a firstcommunication node via L1 or L2 signaling, a report that is based on oneor more measurements associated with one or more positioning referencesignals (PRSs); and means for performing a position computing functionbased on the report.
 44. The second communication node of claim 43,wherein the first communication node corresponds to a user equipment(UE), or first communication node corresponds to a base station.
 45. Thesecond communication node of claim 43, wherein the second communicationnode corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein the secondcommunication node corresponds to a base station.
 46. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, thecomputer-executable instructions comprising: at least one instructioninstructing a first communication node to obtain one or moremeasurements associated with one or more positioning reference signals(PRSs); and at least one instruction instructing the first communicationnode to transmit, to a second communication node via L1 or L2 signaling,a report based on the one or more measurements.
 47. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 46, wherein the first communicationnode corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or first communication nodecorresponds to a base station.
 48. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 46, wherein the second communication node corresponds toa user equipment (UE), or wherein the second communication nodecorresponds to a base station.
 49. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executableinstructions comprising: at least one instruction instructing a secondcommunication node to receive, from a first communication node via L1 orL2 signaling, a report that is based on one or more measurementsassociated with one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs); and atleast one instruction instructing the second communication node performa position computing function based on the report.
 50. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the firstcommunication node corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or firstcommunication node corresponds to a base station.
 51. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the second communicationnode corresponds to a user equipment (UE), or wherein the secondcommunication node corresponds to a base station.